2012, being the year of a national election and the Olympics, has been a big year for LGBTs in pop culture, politics and sports. Now SheWired would like to pay homage to the unabashedly out women who’ve moved visibility for queer women forward.

2012, being the year of a national election and the Olympics, has been a big year for LGBTs in pop culture, politics and sports. Now SheWired would like to pay homage to the unabashedly out women who’ve moved visibility for queer women forward.

It was a year in which we saw several women come out in the national sports arena, the first-ever openly gay senator elected to office, an out actress nominated for an Emmy and Golden Globes, Saturday Night Live’s first-ever lesbian cast member and lesbian journalists front and center offering in-depth election coverage.

Please join us in reminiscing about the year in out women, and don’t forget to vote for who you think should be Woman of the Year. We will close the voting on Wednesday, December 19 and announce the winner the following day. You can vote for multiple people per submission, but only one submission per day, per device, is accepted. And while we are ostensibly voting for a winner, these 20 women are already winners for their continued success and devotion to furthering visibility and representation for LGBT women.

Kate McKinnon:

The show's first out lesbian comic arrived just as Saturday Night Live lost the star comedy power of Kristen Wiig, adding pressure to keep audiences laughing. That's what Kate McKinnon has done this season. And maybe her success is because McKinnon isn't exactly a novice, coming from Upright Citizens Brigade and The Big Gay Sketch Show. Don't miss McKinnon on SNL doing a spot-on impersonation of Ellen DeGeneres. Even Ellen loved it, suggesting McKinnon go to Thanksgiving in her place.